Empathy is one of the best approaches parents can use to help their kids when they struggle emotionally. Providing empathy maintains parental authority without giving up or giving in. At the same time, it strengthens relationships between kids and their parents, and kids learn essential emotional regulation skills.

All kids have anger outbursts at some point. If you find yourself frustrated by these outbursts or helpless in creating positive change, you might need to consider a different strategy. Sometimes the best course of action when your child is upset is to give them some time and space to calm down. This article addresses strategies for supporting your child to calm themselves down during anger outbursts, without your immediate intervention, which can make the situation worse.

While children can be quite wonderful, our kids can also pull emotional responses out of us that leave us feeling exhausted and frustrated. This article covers the importance of taking care of your emotional health as a means of enjoying parenting more and increasing your effectiveness as a parent.

Most parents love their kids tremendously, but it can sometimes feel like there is a disconnect or uncertainty in whether kids actually experience that love. This article addresses the role of effectively conveying love as a core tenet of parenting.

It’s counterintuitive to many people that requesting and receiving help is a necessary skill in developing and sustaining independence. This article discusses a framework for developing these skills in your kids.

Parents can be extremely frustrated when it seems like anytime they communicate with their kids, it ends in a meltdown. There are basic approaches for enhancing positive communication with your children. This article explains different types of communication between parent and child, helpful strategies and pitfalls to avoid.

Many parents find that trying to convince their kids to have more positive behaviors is either ineffective or backfires. This article addresses the strategy of behavioral shaping for parents to enhance positive behaviors and reduce conflicts when their kids are off-task. This basic parenting strategy, colloquially known as Grandma’s Rule, when consistently applied, can help life at home go more smoothly.

Helping someone you care about who is depressed can be a challenge, but your informed persistence can make all the difference. This article addresses ways of supporting the people you care about in their fight against depression.

Unfortunately, many parents’ first response is the wrong one when dealing with a predator or friends who are pulling their teenager into a drug culture or other unhealthy relationships. This article addresses a plan of action for dealing with parental missteps and preserving your relationship with your child as they navigate the uncertain waters of adolescent relationships.

Some parents are at a loss if their child struggles with social skills because it seems like such a basic, naturally-acquired ability. However, many kids struggle with lagging social skills and this can result in fewer friendships, trouble learning at school or aggression. This article addresses creative strategies for helping your child.

All parents and caregivers lose their cool at times when raising kids. There is a continuum of verbal feedback that occurs from parent to child that ranges from calm feedback to the extreme of verbal abuse. This article explains the effects of yelling and offers more effective ways of providing feedback to children.

Imagine taking away an unenjoyable parenting behavior that you use frequently. You would need to create a new solution. Most parents would love more options before they have to “go negative” with their children. This article explains a strategy for finding parenting solutions that you enjoy more.

There are several ways to earn the respect of kids. Confronting them while they are in the middle of being rude and disrespectful is not always the best way to provide feedback and get them to change their behavior. This article describes a strategy for addressing the negative behavior of kids by modeling respect and how to make an apology.

There are simple steps that you can take to motivate your child and get them rolling on the activity or project they need to be working on. Understanding time also helps kids start an activity and stay motivated by knowing how long they will have to work on it. This article addresses effective strategies for motivating children and teaching kids of nearly any age the concept of time.

Kids sometimes attempt to do things that are beyond their reach. They may not always succeed in these endeavors, however, children need to test their limits to build confidence and independence. This article addresses a framework for evaluating these situations as a parent, determining when it is appropriate to take a step back to see how things play out and when to step in to set boundaries for your kids.

The core of effective parenting is to communicate love with the right mixture of empathy, nonjudgmental communication and firmness for each child. The mixture changes depending on the temperament of the child. This article encourages parents to free themselves from rigid parenting approaches, creatively meeting the parenting needs of each child and actually having fun in the process.

Sometimes children ask for things they can’t have. However, there is a secret solution to this challenging situation. You can give your child their wishes in fantasy in a way that costs you nothing, does not spoil your children and can actually be fun. This article explains the positive parenting strategy of the Magic Wish Game.

Art is one of the best ways to express ourselves. Engaging activities like art get children to feel and behave better. This article explains the rules of the Drawing Game, which is great for places where you are stuck waiting with your kids. Learn how to be a positive leader in your family by starting a fun drawing game with your child!